Western Australia’s biodiversity is under increasing pressure
Changes in land use, climate, fire and water regimes, invasive species, disease and other human-driven pressures can alter ecosystems and threaten species. Understanding how these cumulative pressures interact, and where action can make the greatest difference, is essential to protecting biodiversity while supporting a sustainable and resilient Western Australia.
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3 major pressures
Land-use change, climate change and invasive species are identified as major biodiversity threats from cumulative pressures.
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50+ organisations working together
WABSI brings together biodiversity science end users from different sectors to identify key challenges and develop pathways to respond to these pressures.
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6 emerging end user priorities
WABSI’s end user consultation has identified six major areas where we need to increase our understanding of biodiversity and the cumulative pressures which threaten it.
Why is biodiversity under pressure?
Western Australia’s biodiversity has evolved within distinctive landscapes and ecosystems, but these systems are not static. Species and ecosystems respond continually to changes in climate, fire, water availability, land use and other environmental conditions.
Some pressures are direct. Clearing and fragmentation can remove habitat or disconnect flora and fauna populations. Introduced plants and animals can compete with native species, alter ecosystems or prey on vulnerable wildlife. Disease can affect individual species and entire ecological communities. Changes to fire regimes and hydrological processes can also alter the conditions on which species depend.
Other pressures are cumulative or interact over time. Climate change can compound existing impacts by altering temperature, rainfall, fire weather and the availability of suitable habitat. Development, agriculture, mining, urban growth and renewable energy infrastructure can create new demands for land and resources.
Understand how pressures interact, how ecosystems may respond and which interventions are most effective.
Three major pressures create significant knowledge challenges. Decision-makers need reliable, accessible and scalable evidence to understand biodiversity risks, compare options, plan for change and target investment. WABSI’s role is to help identify these knowledge gaps and connect independent science with the people who need it.
Changes in land use and development
Land-use change can affect biodiversity through habitat loss, fragmentation and disruption of ecological processes. Urbanisation, agriculture, mining and infrastructure can create cumulative impacts, highlighting the need for landscape-scale evidence to guide planning, avoid impacts and support better outcomes.
Climate and environmental change
Climate change is intensifying existing pressures on biodiversity, with shifts in temperature, rainfall, fire, drought and water availability affecting ecosystems and species. Better evidence on resilience, thresholds and adaptation is needed to guide planning, management and climate-resilient decisions.
Invasive species and disease
Introduced species, predation and disease can place significant pressure on native biodiversity by altering habitats, disrupting ecological processes and increasing mortality. Understanding impacts, pathways and intervention effectiveness is essential for preventing, managing and reducing these threats.
Good biodiversity decisions depend on accessible and reliable information.
Shared evidence, data and insights enable a better understanding of cumulative impacts. They strengthen environmental assessment, planning, monitoring and adaptive management across species, ecosystems and landscapes. What knowledge is needed? The challenge is not simply a lack of research. In many cases, knowledge exists but is fragmented, difficult to access or not available at the scale required for a particular decision. WABSI’s end user consultations identify the knowledge priorities that matter most to the people working at the interface of biodiversity, policy, development and investment.
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Strategic bioregional planning
Better regional-scale evidence can help align development, conservation and biodiversity outcomes over the long term.
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Sustainable food production
Science can help identify approaches that support food security while maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem function.
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Renewable energy transition
Evidence is needed to understand and manage biodiversity impacts as renewable energy infrastructure expands.
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Decision-ready information
Accessible, trusted evidence helps decision-makers understand risks, trade-offs and potential outcomes.
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Climate-resilient ecosystems
Research can identify what makes ecosystems resilient and where intervention may be most effective.
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Valuing biodiversity
Better ways to measure and value biodiversity can strengthen decisions about investment, management and risk.
Addressing biodiversity challenges requires collaboration.
Collaboration across science, government, industry, regulators and communities is needed to connect knowledge, identify priorities and develop practical responses, to protect nature and biodiversity.
WABSI leads this collaboration in Western Australia. It undertakes structured engagement with biodiversity science end users to identify critical knowledge gaps and develop targeted research programs.
This approach helps reduce duplication, focus research investment and create pathways for science to inform real-world decisions.
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The WABSI research partnership leading knowledge collaboration
11
organisations in WA with research capacity
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Supporters across multiple sectors
50+
organisations and growing
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A successful track record
10+
years of enabling more informed decisions for the environment
From knowledge to action:
Western Australia’s biodiversity knowledge priorities
WABSI’s 2026 publication brings together insights from structured consultation with end users of biodiversity science. It identifies six major areas where better knowledge is needed to support decisions across WA: bioregional planning, food security, renewable energy, decision-making information, climate resilience, and biodiversity valuation. The priorities provide a current view of where targeted science can help address complex biodiversity challenges.
Biodiversity challenges are complex because ecological, social and economic systems are connected.
The decisions made today about land, water, infrastructure, resources and investment can influence biodiversity outcomes for decades.
Better evidence does not remove uncertainty or make every decision straightforward. It helps make uncertainty visible, improves understanding of risks and options, and provides a stronger basis for action.
WABSI starts with the issue, not the research, working with end users to identify the knowledge they need, where critical gaps exist and where better evidence can make a difference.
- End user knowledge needs
- WABSI publishes a knowledge priorities report which reflects structured engagement with organisations working across government, regulation, industry, research and community. The report is a synthesis of biodiversity threats, research themes and end-user consultations. Find the latest report under our publications page.
The five forces reshapingnature worldwide.
The 2019 IPBES Global Assessment – the most comprehensive review of its kind – identified five direct drivers behind the accelerating loss of biodiversity across the planet.
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Changes in land & sea use
Conversion of forests, wetlands and grasslands to agriculture, forestry and urban development remains the single largest driver of terrestrial biodiversity loss.
75% Of land significantly altered by people -
Direct exploitation of species
Overfishing, hunting and unsustainable harvesting continue to push species toward extinction, particularly in marine and freshwater systems.
66% Of marine environment altered -
Climate change
Once a secondary factor, climate change is now a major and rapidly growing driver in its own right – shifting species' ranges and compounding every other pressure on this list.
↑ Fastest-growing driver since 1970 -
Pollution
Agricultural run-off, plastics and industrial contaminants degrade freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems, with cascading effects through food webs.
3× Rise in plastic pollution since 1980 -
Invasive alien species
Global trade and travel move species far beyond their natural ranges, where they outcompete, predate or displace native flora and fauna.
↑ 70% Rise in invasive alien species since 1970
Why Australia is a global
extinction hotspot.
Australia's biodiversity is declining faster than almost anywhere in the OECD. The 2021 Australia State of the Environment Report found the drivers below are compounding, with more than 1,900 species and ecological communities now nationally listed as threatened.
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Invasive predators & species
Feral cats, foxes and other introduced species are the leading cause of Australia's mammal extinctions – the worst mammal extinction record of any continent over the past two centuries.
82% Of threatened species affected -
Habitat loss, clearing & fragmentation
Land clearing for agriculture and development has been implicated in the listing of the majority of Australia's threatened species, and continues at scale in several states.
>60% Of threatened species affected -
Altered fire regimes
Changed fire frequency and intensity – lengthening fire seasons, compounded by climate change – is degrading fire-sensitive ecosystems and threatened species habitat nationally.
74% Of threatened species affected -
Agricultural & urban expansion
Almost half of the continent is now used for grazing and cropping, concentrating remaining biodiversity into small, modified and increasingly vulnerable remnants.
57% Of threatened species affected -
Cumulative, compounding pressure
Most Australian threatened species and ecosystems face multiple, interacting pressures at once – which current monitoring and management effort is not keeping pace with.
100+ Species declared extinct nationally
Continue through Nature under pressure.
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WA's unique biodiversity
Why the south-west is one of the richest, most distinctive places on Earth for nature.
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From challenge to action
How securing a nature positive future starts with the right research, in the right places.
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Targeting knowledge gaps
WABSI's process for identifying priorities – and why focused research matters.